This project, a resubmit, is the fifth in a program of research designed to investigate the human endogenous healing process and to develop nursing strategies to enhance that natural process. This prospective longitudinal, single sample study is designed to verify a previously developed model and concepts of the endogenous healing process in an "in vivo" healing experience. Two specific aims of this project are to: (1) examine systematically self-involvement with the endogenous healing process in mothers grieving the acute loss of a child; and (2) examine the relationship between the endogenous healing process and the informants' psychological distress. Thirty mothers experiencing the acute loss of their child will be followed for 18 months. Two strategies will be used to gather information: (1) taped semi-structured interviews focusing on self-involvement in the healing experience; and (2) a self-report symptom inventory, the SCL-9O-R assessing for psychological distress. Informants will be interviewed monthly and complete the SCL-9O-R every three months. A randomly selected subsample will be more closely followed for the first six months with bi-weekly interviews and monthly SCL-90-R inventories, then resume the same schedule. Analysis will include transcriptions of taped interviews and coding of data for informant's self involvement in their healing process. Coded data will be entered into Oracle and a constant comparative method will be used to define categories and characteristics from informants' data. Validity and reliability of interview data will be assessed by an independent, naive sorter. Presence of psychological distress will be noted by scoring the SCL-9O-R. Mother's scores will classified into one of three groups and examined for presence or absence of aspects of the healing process and concordance between these determined using Cochran's Q test. In a single subject analysis, psychological distress scores will be tracked over time, quantifying any change in measures of distress and will determine whether auto-correlation is present. Changes in variance in responses over time will be measured. If no difference in variability is found, the average psychological distress over time will be estimated using a two-way ANOVA. Construction of models and concepts will be completed for the endogenous healing process in bereavement.